Newbie food questions...

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Seriously, find a shake you do like. There are literally THOUSANDS out there - different types, brands, flavors, etc. I tried a LOT of them before I found my favorite (Dymatize brand Elite Chocolate Mint - YUM). Once I found "the one," I loked forward to having them and could easily consume 2 double shakes per day.

Order as many samples as you can find, see if you can mooch samples off local WLS patients in your area, and go buy some tubs to try from healthfood/supplement stores that will let you return opened containers if you don't like the flavor. I even liked making my shakes with unflavored or plain vanilla powder and then adding different flavors like DaVinci or Torani sugar free syrups.

And try mixing with different things. I NEVER found a shake I liked when mixed with water (despite many attempts!). I always preferred milk. Well, I steered clear of regular milk due to the carbs, so I used unsweetened almond milk,a nd that worked well for me. You could also try unsweetened coconut milk. And some people just straight up use heavy cream (I couldn't do that - made me nauseous for some reason, but lots of people like it). I would sometimes do about half heavy cream and half water.

And at this time of year, I also enjoyed hot protein chai tea "lattes" (heat up a cup of heavy cream and steep a chai tea bag in the cream, then add to the protein "slurry") and protein hot chocolate (either just heated up chocolate protein shake or a packet of diet hot chocolate mix with unflavored protein added). There are multiple threads around on how to do hot protein drinks, as you can't get the protein too hot or it will clump and be gross.

 I just tried plain Chobani Greek yogurt (23 gr protein per cup) mixed w/ Torani syrup, Splenda & Whey Crisps (20 gr protein per scoop) & it was really good! The crisps give it some crunchy texture. I got them from Netrition.com. Love that place! At 4 weeks out I wasn't able to eat much of anything let alone get 100 gr of protein a day. If it wasn't for the shakes, I'd have a hard time now! Hope you find what works soon. It took me quite a while. 

Eating at three weeks was the most difficult time for me. I think my taste buds were revolting everything I tried!  I had a little lemonade to help me get my water in. I made spaghetti with meat sauce and had light noodles, heavy meat sauce.  I have a recipe for Mexican Bean Soup that I ate quite a bit at this time. I will post it later today. Balance bars, chocolate peanut butter. It got me thru this time and I kept my protein up (my docs goal was only 40 grams). Lots of cheese. Rotisserie chicken. At this time, cooking was not great fun for me. I got the chicken from the grocery store already cooked.  I made the soup and froze it in small batches. I never had any shakes. 

During this time, I didnt lose as much weight as I "should" have. Those carbs snuck in on me!  Now at almost eight weeks, I can eat better without the carbs. Turkey wrapped around a piece of mozerella string cheese is yum!  And I am losing weight again a little quicker. 

Do what works for you, but make sure you get your water and protein. Honebadger posted a three week update not long ago with some of the things she was eating. It WILL get easier!

Are U sure you are not dehydrated?  Just checking cause of all the gagging and so forth.  If you aren't keep trying different stuff. 

One of my favs during this time was won ton soup...no won tons and pureed black bean soup.  I bought it in the can and plopped in in my blender and it sure was good...I added cheese and it stayed down.

Be sure not to eat too fast.  As a long time big eater I normally would eat too fast, too much and so forth.  Remember your stomach is tiny and it is probably still swollen.  Eat slowly, and wait between bites.

I know this doesn't sound like fun but believe me, you will be able to eat more later on.  Try a saltine...just nibble on it don't take a big bite.  Sometimes it will settle your stomach.  Also peppermint tea will help your tummy to settle. 

Once you can get your tummy to settle down, you can eat better...make sure you are hydrated.  If you aren't sure go to the ER and get an IV.

B

 eating isn't fun at first. it sucks... make sure you are drinking, and give up on the food comfort. You might get one bite of something down at once. do mushy stuff... like cottage cheese... I couldnt do scrambled eggs early out... but fried eggs went down well... experiment.

I've never been able to tolerate protein shakes/smoothies, regardless of if they're pre-packaged or fresh. 

I will say that I tried Lori's Protein Coffee drink last night (Dream protein, no added fake sugars, likely only one pump of syrup next time) and it was pure awesome!



The way I countered my lack of protein shakes was to try to find a good protein tea. I settled on
Isopure Green Tea, which has 40g of protein per bottle.

The black tea version is waaaay too bitter/dry for me, but the green tea is tolerable over ice.  (The revewers who say it tastes "just like" Lipton Diet Green Tea are Fibber McFibpants. ) You might also mix a snidge of honey or fake sweetener in if it's too bitter. The ice is the important part for me, though, as it really does cut back on the pith effect.

The bite of tihs drink is almost like the bite of a dry red wine, by the way.

They have a TON of other flavors, but I found all of them to be overly sweet to me.  I was never able to find the teas in any store, though. I had to just order a case online.

Very, very interesting.  Protein teas.  Thanks for this idea, Alusien!

Ricotta cheese.  A quarter cup holds 7g of protein
Add some sweetener and vanilla and it tastes like the inside of a cannoli.
Add some tomato and cheese and nuke for the best part of lasagna.
Add some instant pudding and a little cream for ricotta fluff stuff